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The PJs
The PJs is an American stop-motion adult animated television series created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It centers around life in an urban Detroit public housing project. The show starred Eddie Murphy, and was produced by Imagine Entertainment by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, The Murphy Company & Will Vinton Studios in association with Touchstone Television. Summary Forty episodes were aired during the show's three-year run. There were still 6 episodes left over, which were produced, Each episode took over two months to produce, owing to the laborious stop motion process. It was originally broadcast on Fox from 1999-2000 before being cancelled by the network due to its high budget. The WB soon picked the series up for one more season in 2001. The last three episodes were not aired until 2003. Reruns previously aired on Trio, a cable television network. The show was picked up for Adult Swim and began showing on December 29, 2008. The PJs won three Emmy Awards and one Annie Award during its run. Some social activists, including director Spike Lee, accused the show of depicting a negative racial view of the projects.http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/TV/9902/17/pjs/index.html Quincy Jones' son QD3 along with George Clinton produced the theme music for the show. On Adult Swim, the show is rated TV-14 for suggestive dialogue (D), sexual situations (S), offensive language (L), and violence (V), though most episodes carry a TV-PG rating.Starting in November 2008 The PJ's started to air on an all-black TV channel "TV ONE". Characters *'Thurgood Stubbs' - The superintendent of the Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs projects. He is short-tempered, not very bright and usually gets himself in trouble. Played by Eddie Murphy in seasons one and two and by Phil Morris in season three. *'Muriel Stubbs' (née Warren) - Thurgood's wife - the voice of reason. Played by Loretta Devine. *'Mrs. Avery' - The senior citizen, who was known notoriously as the one who shot the mailman...and the garbage man. Her full name is Florence Normandy Avery. Played by Ja'net Dubois. *'Lucky' - A dog owned by Mrs. Avery that was given to her by Thurgood. Originally a stray, he got his name after Mrs. Avery failed to shoot him (twice) with her shotgun. *'Calvin & Juicy Hudson' - Two children who are best friends and idolize Thurgood. Juicy is the fat slow-witted boy. Calvin is played by Crystal Scales. Michele Morgan plays Juicy. *'Momma & Poppa Hudson' - Juicy's parents, both of whom are so morbidly obese that they can no longer exit their apartment, and are thus confined inside. In the episode What's eating Juicy Hudson, Poppa Hudson leaves the house for the first time and his face is also shown. In the episode Boyz N the Woods, Poppa Hudson is confirmed to weigh more than half a ton. *'Smokey' - The crackhead who always angers Thurgood. His real name is Elister, but was referred to as "Mr. Crackhead" and "Mr. Crack" in the first three episodes of the series. In one episode, it is revealed that he used to train fighting rats under the name "Ratman Crothers." He is often insulted with the phrase "You damn stupid crackhead!" by Thurgood. He later quits drug use by Season 3, but is still homeless. "Smokey" was played by Shawn Michael Howard. *'Jimmy Ho' - A Korean tenant (married to Bebe) who thinks he is black. He frequently uses urban or "ghetto" phrases (colloquialisms) when he speaks, to which Thurgood always responds "You're not black!". He opened a casino in an episode. Played by Michael Paul Chan. *'Bebe Ho' - Muriel's trash-talking sister. She hates Thurgood and also she is pregnant with Thurgood's baby. Played by Jenifer Lewis. *'Mambo "Haiti Lady" Garcelle Dupris' - the resident Voodoo Queen of the Hilton-Jacobs Projects. Played by Cheryl Francis Harrington. Her powers, though highly potent and proven in the episode U Go Cart, are unreliable: they do not work should she be challenged to prove them, as seen in Haiti Sings the Blues. *'Emilio Sanchez' - Thurgood's luckless Cuban friend who is unable to talk because he smoked a lot or because of Haiti Lady's Voodoo powers, as hinted in the episode Haiti Sings the Blues. He has to use an electronic voicebox held up to his throat in order to communicate. He once wanted to become an Opera singer back when he had his voice. For some reason, he wears a blue and white trucker hat with "Nevada" written on the front. Played by Pepe Serna. *'Walter Burkett' - The parole officer with a past as a crooked cop. His past is regularly alluded to, as many people around the projects owe him favours. Played by Marc Wilmore. *'Tarnell' - the local street corner hustler, who Thurgood usually turns to when he needs something, greeted with "Tell Tarnell!" who speaks frequent slang in which Thurgood understands, until Tarnell brings him the complete opposite, which usually is the best solution for Thurgood's problem. Played by James Black. *'Rasta Man' - The Jamaican stereotype of a marijuana smoker. He is often seen as a walking smoke cloud. Played by Kevin Michael Richardson. *'HUD Lady' - The social worker at HUD always seen in silhouette who never gives Thurgood what he wants (yet is incredibly friendly to Muriel) and simply yells, "Next," at the end of every sentence. Her son's name is Chevron and her daughter's name is Lasagna. Played by Cassi Davis. Other characters include Sherique, Buster, Rev. Samuels', Smokey's Friends and Nola. Due to a rumoured dispute between Eddie Murphy and the Fox network (apparently over unfavorable scheduling of the show), actor Phil Morris took over the role of Thurgood in several late episodes. Some sources indicate that Murphy was actually busy on a film role at the time. Episode list Season 1: 1999 Pilot: Unaired pilot episode # Hangin' With Mr. Super (1/10/1999)TV-14LV # Bones, Bugs, & Harmony (1/12/1999) 14 L # The Door (1/19/1999) TV-14DLV # Journal Fever (1/26/1999)TV-14DL # Rich Man, Porn Man (2/2/1999) TV-14DLSV # Bougie Nights (2/9/1999)TV14 # A Hero Aint Nothin But A Super (2/16/1999) # He's Gotta Have It (Nominated for an Emmy) (2/23/1999) # Boyz N The Woods (4/6/1999) # Operation Gumbo Drop (4/13/1999) # U Go Kart (5/4/1999)TV-14DL # House Potty (5/11/1999) # Haiti Sings The Blues (5/18/1999)14 DLS # How the Super Stoled (sic) Christmas (12/17/1999)14-DLS Season 2: 1999-2000 # Home School Dazed (5/30/2000) # The Postman's Always Shot Twice (5/30/2000) # The Preacher's Life (6/6/2000)14 DL # The HJs (6/13/2000) 14 D # Haiti & The Tramp (6/13/2000) # Smokey the Squatter (6/27/2000) # Weave's Have A Dream (6/27/2000) # Let's Get Ready To Crumble (7/4/2000) # Who Da Boss? (7/4/2000) # Fear Of A Black Rat (7/11/2000) # Ghetto Superstars (7/11/2000) # What's Eating Juicy Hudson? (7/18/2000) # Cliffhangin' With Mr. Super (8/15/2000) # The Jeffersons (7/25/2000) # Robbin' HUD (8/1/2000) # The Last Affirmative Action Hero (8/29/2000) # Parole Officer and a Gentleman (9/5/2000) Season 3 : 2000-2001 # Boyz Under The Hood (10/8/2000) # New Years Eve Special: 32. Scathroat (12/31/2000) # Smoke Gets In Your High Rise (2/4/2001) # National Buffoon's European Vacation (2/11/2001) # Cruising For A Bluesing (2/18/2001) # It Takes A Thurgood (2/25/2001) # Miracle Cleaner on 134th Street (4/29/2001) # Survival: In Tha Hood (5/6/2001) # Let's Get Ready To Rumba (5/13/2001) # A Race To His Credit (5/20/2001) # Red Man's Burden (Unaired) # Clip Show (Unaired) # Untitled Episode (Unaired) # Thurgood, Boxer (Unaired) # Richness Is Me (Unaired) # Untitled last episode (Unaired) * Note: The final unaired episodes have been shown in some markets, such as by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 2003 and Cartoon Network's sister channel, Adult Swim in the United States in 2008. It still is being aired as of 2015 Soundtrack #It's Nothing (Featuring R.O.C.) — Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat #Talkin' Trash (Featuring Bassy) — Timbaland #Life In The Projects — Snoop Dogg #Hat Low — Goodie Mob #Way 2 Strong — Bizzy Bone #The Ghetto (Featuring O) — Krayzie Bone #Giant Size — Raekwon Feat. American Cream Team #Rapid Fire — O #Holiday (Featuring Marie Antoinette) — Earth, Wind & Fire #Get Involved — Raphael Saadiq & Q Tip #What I Am — Smith, Sy #No More Rainy Days — Destiny's Child #Here I Go — Infamous Syndicate #Til It's Over — Krumbsnatcha #Always Been You — Imajin #PJs — George Clinton References in other series *The manhole cover that served as the show's title card had made appearances on Futurama as an entry point into the mutant-populated sewers of New New York. After seeing this, the writers of The PJs put a picture of Fry, the main character on Futurama, on a milk carton. *In the episode of The Simpsons entitled "Missionary: Impossible", Thurgood is one of the phone operators at the Fox Network fundraising drive. *The show was parodied in an episode of Robot Chicken called "Celebutard Mountain" during the "VH1's Top 100 Final Episodes Ever" skit. References External links * The PJs at TV One * The PJs TV.com * The PJs Fan Site * The PJs at Retro Junk * The PJs at the Internet Movie Database * es:Los PJs sv:PJs Category:1990s Cartoons Category:1990's Series Category:2000's Series Category:Fox network shows Category:Animated Sitcoms Category:Warner Bros. Television series Category:The PJs Category:2000s Cartoons